Monday, June 29, 2009

So this is my friend Janet who said I didn't NAME her in my last post when I mentioned ONE of my besties. This is for JANET. On the left. And our 22 year friendship! Can you believe she's put up with me for THAT long? HA!

Saturday, June 27, 2009

What is better than finding you are one of the featured items of the day? Woohoo! So glad there's no mention of price per pound. :~)

Then you find there's a lovely display with posters and plants, and folks are walking past with fliers about your work!

Your friends come out and support you AND you meet fantastic new people and sell many, many books!

Besties from different parts of your life meet for the first time!

Your last customer you've never met before is named Lucy, and she just happens to be dressed just like you. All the way down to her teeny tiny Chucks! She's excited about your book that is now her book.

Is she not adorable? Thanks to her sweet folks for allowing me to share her picture.

What a fantastic day. Special thanks to Dave, the South Hill Costco manager; Pennie Clark Ianniciello, Costco Book Buyer; Assistant Buyer for Children books, Melissa McMeekin; and my Scholastic editor Rotem Moscovich!

And of course kudos to all my supportive friends and family. How did I not end up with a photo of Holly Cupala and her purchases? IT WAS A HUGE STACK.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Colleen's latest post for What a Girl Wants just went up over at Chasing Ray. This time she asked the roundtable about the girl detective in YA lit. Where has she gone? Here's my response:

Lorie Ann Grover. I, too, was a Nancy Drew fiend, Colleen. I loved her intelligence, independence, and success. The Spider Sapphire Mystery was one of my most treasured possessions. Yes, there are middle grade detective mysteries popping up now. Michael D. Beil's The Red Blazer Girls: The Ring of Rocamadour launched in April to a Booklist starred review. But you are right. That's middle grade. However, here's a YA detective heroine: Kirsten Miller's Kiki Strike. She's amazing. There's one. Yay! It's interesting to note that she is younger when the series begins, and the series has fantastic elements that raise it above realism. Hm.

I see two scenarios. The first could be that our teens today generally won't pause to believe in the possibility of a teen detective. Is the concept too far-fetched? There may not be a tolerance for the fictional character, or is there?

The second possibility is that authors will be bringing mysteries to the table soon. Right now, we see a resurgence of sci-fi, after a gothic/horror fantasy trend. In the natural cycle, maybe authors are beginning to tap into their mysterious stories with girl detectives in one form or another, and we'll see the works hit the shelves in a couple years. Kiki will be waiting.

I've just thought of a third option. Maybe there are girl detectives in YA lit, but they take non-traditional forms. Aren't most strong female protagonists searching for answers in a mystery? Whether they be sleuthing like Nancy Drew or wandering through adolescence searching for their identity like Georgia Nicolson. Whichever, let's hope they inspire readers to take the wheel of their own blue convertibles.

Be sure to check out what everyone else had to say. I loved Melissa Wyatt's point:

"The MG-aged reader still believes in a straight-forward black-and-white form of justice. For the adult reader, they understand the complexity of real life but still hope justice will win out in the end. and still carry that hunger for justice. But maybe it's too much to ask of the YA reader, who is suddenly surrounded by injustices of a more immediate nature than distant crime, that can't be righted by the same means. Maybe it's just not the right time for that kind of intellectual escape."

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Colleen has posted the first entry for "What a Girl Wants." The entry is "The Books We Can't Forget" to introduce the roundtable participants. The answers are as varied as the ladies Colleen has corralled for the project. Here's my entry which was fun to write. Be sure to check out the full roundup!

Lorie Ann Grover:

When I am asked this question, immediately Island of the Blue Dolphins comes to mind. In 1961, Scott O'Dell won the Newbery Medal for Island of the Blue Dolphins. I was born in 1964, so the work probably came to my attention near 1976 when the Children's Literature Association named the novel one of the 10 best American children's books of the past 200 years.

O’Dell was inspired by a 12 year old girl left behind on an island off the coast of CA as the Ghalas were evacuated. She jumped from the ship to return to her brother who had been left behind. He soon died, and Karana lived there alone for 18 years.

Karana testified to me that a girl can survive by herself. She can face wild dogs, enemies, sea elephants, and the death of a loved one. She can clothe and shelter herself, and find some measure of joy. I believed it knowing O’Dell based the work on truth. This gave me independence and challenged me to be resilient. When my father left our family, I knew I could stand. I was motivated to be like Karana as School Library Journal summarized in their starred review: “A quiet acceptance of fate characterizes her ordeal." I would call it providence, but this is how I have hoped to live, quiet acceptance while wholly active.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

I wanted to share a few photos from the 5th Avenue Theatre High School Musical Awards. Ellen didn't win in her category, but we discovered she was a nominee for her role as Berthe in Pippin from 8,000 students! And she had a glorious time on stage. What a night to remember!

She entered through this door! Woohoo!

Here she is in costume as Berthe from Pippin before the current world premiere poster of Catch Me If You Can, now playing at the 5th Avenue.

An alley full of actors were waiting to take the stage!

El and I after her performance.

There were awesome presentations and performances!

Ellen represented Sumner High School with the dance captain, Brian, and she was surprised to see her Berthe boys had come to support her.

Thanks to the generosity of Justina Chen Headley, El's friend Beth was able to attend.

It was a beautiful night full of talent. Congrats to all the honorable mentions, nominees, and winners! "There's no business like show business."

Sunday, June 7, 2009

"(W)what I'd really like to hear now is what other people think about the current status of books for teen girls and what it says about both what they want to read and what publishers think they want to read. Now here's the cool part - the list of the authors who agreed to take part in an occasional round of questions about girls and reading. They are all fabulous and they all have opinions and they all were once teenage girls (that part was kinda critical). Starting next week on a varying schedule I'll be posting a single question and then their answers as we talk about what a girl wants - and what she gets - when it comes to reading."

Monday, June 1, 2009

CO-FOUNDER OF READERGIRLZ AND READERTOTZ CELEBRATES A NEW BOARD BOOK: BEDTIME KISS FOR LITTLE FISH

Author/illustrator Lorie Ann Grover’s new board book for babies is “utterly serene from start to finish,” says Publishers Weekly.

June 1, 2009 (Seattle, Wash.) – readergirlz and readertotz co-founder and author/illustrator Lorie Ann Grover’s new board book Bedtime Kiss for Little Fish has just been released from Scholastic/Cartwheel. Endearingly illustrated by Debra Ziss, the work beautifully expresses soothing images of sea creatures preparing to sleep. A small orange fish instructs:

"Night is dark, baby shark.

Make no fuss, octopus."

Lorie Ann says, “I love the short rhymes offered up by the tiniest fish as he encourages the sea life to go to sleep. Thanks to my editor Rotem Moscovich for realizing the baby fish needs a bedtime kiss as well!”

Bedtime Kiss for Little Fish introduces sea life and adds a quiet calm to babies’ evenings.

Debra Ziss is an illustrator and hand lettering artist from New York. Her clients include: Scholastic, Random House, Houghton Mifflin, Grosset and Dunlap, Barnesandnoble.com, The Gap, The Limited, and American Girl Magazine. http://www.debraziss.com

readergirlz is the foremost online book community for teen girls, led by five critically acclaimed YA authors. The site is the recipient of a 2007 James Patterson PageTurner Award; the Association for Library Services to Children, ALA, Great Web Sites Award; and the National Book Foundation’s Innovations in Reading Prize. www.readergirlz.com

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Appearances

I do make appearances. Feel free to ask about:1. #hitwithgratitudc2. Fact to Fiction:a Poetry/Collage Workshop.I'm happy to chat with your class or book club online.

Endorsements“As a small international school in the Middle East, visiting authors are rare. It was such a wonderful opportunity for our students to meet with a genuine author, especially one with such an inspirational story and powerful message. Lorie Ann’s message really clicked with our students and we are so grateful she could share her ideas, passions, and process with us."

Meghan Kenney, Teacher, Al Batinah International School, Sohar, Oman

"We are very grateful that you all could come and visit with us. I have received nothing but great feedback around this program. Crossroads thanks you for your time and kindness."

Yshanda Springer, Crossroads Juvenile Center, New York

"Your stories totally mesmerized our audience! WOW!!! Our students are awestruck with gratitude! They ALL so enjoyed your presentation and took so much away! Truly, you have made a HUGE difference at Jackson High!"